Tribe I. SILENEÆ. Sepals united into a tube or cup. Petals (mostly convolute in the bud) and stamens (10) borne on the stipe or stalk of the ovary, the former with slender claws, to the base of which the corresponding filaments often adhere, included in the calyx tube. Seeds numerous.—Stipules none. Flowers often large and showy.
[*] Calyx with scaly bractlets or small leaves at the base. Seeds flattened on the back, attached by their face; embryo nearly straight.
1. Dianthus. Calyx terete, mostly cylindrical. Styles 2.
[*][*] Calyx naked. Seeds globular or kidney-shaped; embryo curved or coiled.
2. Gypsophila. Calyx top-shaped or campanulate. Pod deeply 4-valved. Styles 2.
3. Saponaria. Calyx oblong-cylindrical, obscurely nerved, terete or 5-angled. Pod shortly 4-valved. Styles 2.
4. Silene. Calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved. Styles 3.
5. Lychnis. Calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved. Styles 5, rarely 4.
Tribe II. ALSINEÆ. Sepals distinct or nearly so, imbricated in the bud. Petals when present without claws, mostly imbricated, and with the stamens inserted at the base of the sessile ovary, or into a little disk. Pod splitting into valves or teeth several–many-seeded. Stamens opposite the sepals, when not more in number.—Low herbs.
[*] Stipules none.